Too-Shy Shy-Girl from a Too-Shy Shy-Era
Do you still remember Kannagi? Takako Kimura? For some of you, there has been a lifetime worth of stuff since, but to me it is a whole heartbeat ago.
Takako: a catch-all catch-you fangirl?
Kannagi’s filler episodes are the true spiritual successor of Lucky Star IMO.
If the general concept behind Lucky Star is when you stick an otaku-type into a group of normal folks, then Kannagi is when you stick a few normal people into a group of otaku types. It strikes me oddly funny that the bulk of people talking about K-ON skipped out on this little not-KyoAni show. Maybe because it isn’t?
Anyways, for the reference of this post, let’s recall another show where you have fanboys and fangirls: Genshiken. It is like, a bunch of otaku types interacting with each other, and sometimes with the greater society. If you have not watched or read Genshiken, you ought to fix that pretty quick-like; not because it’s good entertainment, but it’s a honest-to-goodness otaku fantasy, with the realism dial set to the realistic half of fantasy rather than the more fantastic half. For us proto-otaku types, the enjoyment comes in with identifying the nuances in Shimoku Kio’s world with ours. A Dilbert or The Office, if you will, for you and me. Naturally the focus on the show will come down to some degree, on said nuances.
Back to Kannagi. There’s this succulent contrast between the backwards and low-tech of it all, if we take a look at one nuance, compared to the almost-foreign, advance tech representations that gets hoisted on Jin, Nagi and Tsugumi.
It’s not just a Sony. It made a comment, perhaps fairly categorized as a jab, about Sony’s sometime-solitary insistence on its own technological platform for media storage. Akiba made that comment to a poor kid living in a run-down apartment, watching TV on … what, a 24″ CRT feeding NTSC from rabbit ears. It’s a scene out of Kamichu minus the rolled-up newspaper and wintry laziness.
And if electronics tech is not enough, the assault continues with cultural changes. What does that say about Zange and Takako’s performance? Or Nagi’s in contrast? Of ad jingle, image songs from 80s OAVs, present day pop songs…and songs that’s not on any CD… It’s a diverse cross-section.
Is it at all coincidence that the Akiba-kei types stand on the cutting edge of consumer tech? I hardly think not. But the mentality of an otaku is not defined by what is loved or hated, rather, it’s, well, a mentality. One observed through looking at the little details.
In a way there’s a slope of increasing insularity. Characters like Konata and Takako are detached from reality to a degree (beyond the obvious fact that they are anime characters). They may be unreal representations (well, Konata is suppose to be real…) but ultimately they are not crushed souls like the various college kids graduating from Genshiken (which, well, are also unreal in their own ways). Ok, maybe high schoolers have more fun, but whatever. And it’s fun that brings all the fans to the yard.
They’re not shy!
Otakon 2007 Youtube Select
Ugh, sort of busy lately. But since I was doing this on my own time, I figured I can share with you some choice videos from Otakon this year if you haven’t had the time to look them up yourself.
Mamiko Noto
- “Ippen Shindemiru?” …maybe, only if you say so?
- Mamiko Noto’s Friday panel in full (click more from this user and go down the 9 vids)
Tomokazu Seki
- God Finger. OH MY GAD HAVE MY BABIES? Better version.
- Gilgamesh impression. GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN WOMAN.
- Chichiri. Ugh.
- On Yaoi.
- Friday panel videos here (more from this user).
- FIRE.
Kyoani Dance Mania! (I imagine this is a fraction of what AX got)
- Hare Hare Yukai I
- Hare Hare Yukai II
- Hare Hare Yukai III
- Hare Hare Yukai IV
- Hare Hare Yukai V
- Hare Hare Yukai VI (not in dealer’s room)
- Hare Hare Yukai VII
- Hare Hare LOLKAI (from cosplay meet)
- Hare Hare Yukai VII (panel) (and again)
- Motteke! Sailor Fuku I
- Motteke! Sailor Fuku II
- Motteke! Sailor Fuku III
- Motteke! Sailor Fuku IV
4chan is Madness
- Line video I
- Line video II (has most of the good scenes)
- Stuff from the actual panel
- The intro to the panel
- Trap of the Year (may not be safe for work?)
- Line > Panel.
- NO U.
- Fresh Prince and again (better).
- Wristbands (…)
- Seaking, again.
- FAP.
- DESU.
- Russia.
- Dental Plan.
The Steve & Vic Show
- I like Vic Mignogna? Not this much.
- “Colonel Mustang is dead sexy.” LOL Steve Blum.
- Real Fan of Genius live dub. I heard a bunch of this at AX when I was there–I guess they kept making more? Done by the two people seen above you
- You can see the entire panel by going here, and go down the list (more from this user)
AAA
- AAA Fans represent!
- Stalkers. Omo does not approve! Even more stalking.
Eminence
- Talking about Yasunori Mitsuda.
- Odin Sphere.
- Kimi wo nosete.
- Canta per me.
- Radical Dreamers.
- Totoro theme.
- Princess Mononoke theme
- 8 crappy vids of Eminence (first 8 songs?) Hit more from this user. And hit up Moyism for more. Like the full length version of this.
Others
- A public service announcement.
- Freestyle breaking at Otakon 2007. They were pretty nice.
- One very impressive karaoke act. Or maybe Motteke! Sailor Fuku V!
- Otakon AMV intro video.
- Megatokyo parody.
- Happotai?
- FC from Jersey.
- The one good AMV screened at Otakon, possibly.
Feel free to add more~
Jokes On A Curve
Hypothesis: the jokes in Lucky Star are curved.
Okay, no one is fooling anyone by saying that Lucky Star is a popular show on the air right now. But given its panel-comic format with a dash of slice-of-life, why do people like to look for reasons beyond the show itself to explain its popularity? I’m not sure, but is that a sign of the lackluster nature of this skirt-wriggling mess?
I guess that’s how it started. Lucky Star’s shotgun approach to entertainment may be the real cause of it all. The show aims to please a large segment of viewers in two ways, even when it’s in the guise of otaku entertainment.
First, it gives us a wide variety of things to talk about. No matter if you’re a chat-brain otaku or someone more sensible, you can find something to admire within its confines. Well, as much as a slice-of-life high-school comedy could. It is sort of like a second-rate but popular webcomic, but much more intelligent in its planning.
Second, it presents its jokes on a curve. What do I mean by this? Let’s say there’s 20 minutes per episode of Lucky Star. For about 10 minutes of the show, spread across the episode, we have fairly standard situational comedy jokes where the girls explain a simple, everyday things, and we get our lukewarm punchlines. For about 6-7 minutes each episode, LS presents jokes that refers to culture more, such as the Christmas Cake one, or the one about moe. Those are probably not as accessible to people as the ones talking about which side of a choco coronet is the head, although you might find the latter less funny. For about 3-4 minutes we get the more otaku-like jokes, like ones talking about events or Action Hero Animate or what have you.
The point here is even if Lucky Star is a very otaku-minded show most people can enjoy the bulk of it. There are about an equal number of jokes for both the initiated and the initiated’s friend. It may take a real 2ch goon to get all of it, but it doesn’t take a 2ch goon to laugh at it and enjoy it.
(Yeah, Lucky Star’s power to pander to the lowest common denominator wins. The OP has preordained this.)
Perhaps a second question worth exploring is: just how much of anime a typical viewer understands? It’s not exactly rocket science. And it seems to not matter.
Minoru Shiraishi Makes Me Proud
…to be a fanboy.
Because, after all, that’s how we get our grooves on. There’s no reason to adhere some preconceived notion of protocol and trivia. Granted it can be tiresome and bad for our bottom lines, spending our time and attention on trivia and coining words and phrases on the border of meme and fad, walking that preciptious edge a step away from the bottomless abyss of intarweb lunacy.
“Rise up,” Shiraishi said. And I think we will respond.
It’s no surprise that Shiraishi talks about this so-called “tsundere.” Lucky Star pays attention to that sort of thing, and within the bounds of its suspended reality we have at least one. No surprise there, Kagami?
But a rousing speech from this semi-important gag character is the least you’d expect. Albeit it is still a bit of a genre trope… a celebration of geek independence. We speak our own language, breath our own culture, and produce our own information products.
Don’t let the elitist know-it-all get you down! Rise up, cling to your own sense of justice, but also reason grounded in common-sense! Talk about tsundere!
Top 10 Reasons Why I Am Still Watching Lucky Star Despite Not Having Finished Hidamari Sketch
Ok, so it’s more than 3 things.
10. Loli Otaku Girl and the moe factor.
9. Humor.
8. You can download it real fast-like.
7. A Kyoani anime.
6. Pop-culture references that are not rebranded!
5. Hear songs from other anime.
4. It’s what people are talking about, you want to stay in the loop.
3. Serafuku FTW (the OP).
2. I need fansubs for Hidamari damn it!
1. Lucky Channel.
